Some lawmakers are asking the Florida Department of Education to slow down the switch to new K-12 English language arts and math standards, known as Common Core. Education Commissioner Pam Stewart spoke to the Senate Education Committee this Wednesday.

She says the agency is moving ahead with changes to the standards and choosing a new test to use in early 2015. But South Florida Democratic Senator Dwight Bullard is asking the agency to slow down. The changes are too much, too quickly.

"And I'm not really getting from the department a level of empathy on the part of why there's so much consternation by parents, teachers, administrators as it relates to this rollout."Stewart says the agency is making sure whatever test is chooses is the best option for Florida students. She's also recommending pausing turnaround plans for low-performing schools based on the first results form the new test.